Favourite War Film/Tv series
 

I was actually a bit reluctant to make this thread initially. I guess threads of the 'your favourite x of all time' nature are done to death on most of the forums i've been on. But i decided to make it anyway, and i don't really have a good reason, other than really liking war films. also to see if there's any i'd missed out on.So, what's your favourite war film (or tv series) that you've seen so far?

My favourite of all time is definately The Thin Red Line. To me, that's more than just a war flick. I loved the interesting characters and the poetic/philosophical overtone. Though i realise it's the sort of film that's not to everyone's taste. One of the rants I often go on (lol) is how TTRL got robbed of attention due to SPR. SPR certainly had some impressive battle scenes (though the omaha beach landing was too short imo), but i thought the characters were pretty dull and one-note. Also, the story seemd a bit contrived. Uh oh, i'd better stop now before i get too far into the rant.

Also, i recently saw Generation Kill for the first time, and thought it was awesome. Like TTRL it's very character driven, and the shootout scenes seemed quite realistic (often being at longer distances).

Some other's i like are; Stalingrad, The Dirty Dozen, Letter's From Iwo Jima, Apocolypse Now, Big Red One, Cross of Iron, Patton, Jarhead, Gallipoli, Breaker Morant and Come & See.

Letter's From Iwo Jima was a pretty good one. The few WWI movies I saw with the other side's perspective. You actually feel for the Japanese soldiers.

Blackhawk Down is one of my all time favorites

The Unit and Ultimate Force are my favorite TV series

The Unit, 24, Over There, and Special Ops Mission are my favorite war TV shows.

Favorite war movies include Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun, The Hunt for Eagle One and The Hunt For Eagle One: Crash Point (the latter two I plan to screencap after I finish Street Fighter, if I can ever find the damned DVD...), all the Behind Enemy Lines films, The Final Countdown, Full Metal Jacket, and Under Heavy Fire.

I also like ones such as Gladiator, Troy, 300, etc., but I figured you meant more modern war movies.

Letters from Iwo Jima and Black hawk Down.

I also loved the short battle scenes in War of the Worlds (2005), even though that wasn't a war movie.

I'm really fond of "Where Eagles Dare". I've seen it over a dozen times now, probably more than any other war movie in my DVD collection. I know WWII movies are done to death, and that it's highly unrealistic (so much so that Clint Eastwood dual-wielding MP40s barely raises an eyebrow), and the plot is often incoherent. But it's one of those movies that makes me realize just how much good use of setting/location and cinematography can bring a movie to life. The Schloss Adler is really the star of "Where Eagles Dare" - putting Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton together is just a bonus.

Ugh, such a copout! I went into that movie expecting to see an epic battle between the aliens and the military. And I was terribly disappointed. What's even more retarded is that they actually did storyboard more action involving the military, and yet Spielberg decided not to film it.

I think there should be a law in Hollywood that if you're going to get two branches of the U.S. armed forces to cooperate on your film, they should get lots of use in the action scenes.

At least Micheal Bay knows how to adequately exploit the military in his movies

Yeah, I liked them too. Like MT said, it's a real shame the military didn't get more screen time. But at least human weapons put a couple of those SOB Tripods into the dirt this time around, unlike the original where we were totally pwned the whole movie through. And the scene at the end when those 82nd troopers (at least I think they were supposed to be 82nd) were blowing the shit out of that dying Tripod with Javelins and Gustavs was one of the coolest ever.

True, and seeing the military fighting the Decepticons was pretty much the only good thing about the "Transformers" movies.

Yeah, but come on. The Army and Marines loaned Spielberg Abrams tanks, Paladin howitzers, and LAV-25s, plus their crews. How does he use them? They're in one scene where they drive by in a convoy, and another where they're all lined up on a hill and then charge across (and we don't even get to see them shooting at the tripods). If the DoD gave me that much hardware, I would make extensive use of it, the way that Bay did in "Transformers 2". Showing soldiers firing Javelins just doesn't equate with what could have been.

Unfortunately, the story theme of War of the World didn't even justify the loan from the military. It was supposed to be the perspective of Tom Cruise and his family. They could have not even used the military at all or even called them for loans.

Actually, it did show the Marines firing, just the Tripods were "hidden" in a giant cloud of smoke or whatever.

Yes, there could have been more, but what was in there was still pretty cool, though.

You saw the Marines firing rifles, AT4s, and the M2s mounted on the vehicles. What I wanted to see was an M1 Abrams fire its main gun at the tripods...and see the tripods get hit. That's what was lacking, and it's what Spielberg should have had if he was going to go to all the trouble to get DoD cooperation (and remember that "War of the Worlds" was the very first movie to feature real M1 Abrams tanks).

I hate the lack of good Vietnam War films. The only ones i liked were Hamburger Hill, We Were Soldiers and Full Metal Jacket which i think is the best Nam movie i've ever seen.

I also hate the lack of Vietnam War movies from the ARVN perspective. There could be so many battle scenes and story in the movie it would probably win an Oscar or something.

And yes, Generation Kill was great. Probably the best Iraq War television series i have ever seen. The atitude of the marines is exactly the same i read about in books.

Platoon was a good Vietnam movie.

I didn't like it. Adagio For Springs and the silly script and ridiculous accents made me hate it. I still watch almost every day because it's so silly and cheesy it is funny.

Stone wanted the different accents, since everyone in the platoon were from all over. I'm not sure what DVD you have, mine has two DVD commentaries. One by Oliver Stone, the other by Dale Dye who played Capt. Harris in the film. Dye was also the technical advisor for the film. If you listen to both of them you can see why that didn't do the commentary track together, they disagreed on things. The attempted rape (which Stone said he stopped in real life), smoking dope in the bush, etc. Not sure what you find silly about the film?

All the liberal propaganda thrown in?

I actually like the rape scene. The only problem i have with it is adagio for springs and Kevin Dillon's silly ass accent.

I like that Oliver Stone wanted to show that the platoon was from all over the United States. The problem is, the actors in the movie can't use realistic accents to save their lives. They are all very silly and ridiculous. A good example is the village scene. Every time Ace or Berenger or anyone else with an Silly accent opens their mouths i laugh like an idiot. It ruins the scene for me. You either have good realistic accents or no accents at all.

There is also all the silly lines. The "Barnes been shot seven times! He ain't dead! That mean anything to you, uh?" and the "Barnes ain't mean't to die. The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes!" that line is so cheesy and silly i can't believe Stone liked it.

There is also all the uniform fuck ups. But that's for another thread.

I don't think "Platoon" was perfect, but it does have a lot of good qualities. Stone may be a Castro-worshiping moron, but "Platoon" is good filmmaking no matter who's done it.

Do you mean the NVA/VC perspective? I'm not sure what good an ARVN-perspective movie would be; it would mostly be about the ARVN draftees trying to figure out how to desert, I imagine.

As for the lack of good Vietnam films, I'm not sure there are very many that can be made. It's not a conflict that lends itself to the kinds of stories that Hollywood tells best.

Well, a ARVN Officer perspective would be really interisting. Specially one that takes place in the 1970s.

How so? Maybe I haven't read enough about the ARVN, but their reputation is one of incompetence and high desertion rates. I'm really just not sure what would be interesting about it, but perhaps you know more about this than me.

BTW, when I was in college, I got to watch a movie made in Vietnam in the late-70s about the war. I wish I could remember the title. It took place from the perspective of a Vietnamese peasant who was fighting the Americans. The "Americans" were all "Amero-Asians" (Vietnamese men whose moms had fucked Frenchmen or Americans), and the film was done with military cooperation, so the production actually had access to captured American Hueys which the Vietnamese military was still flying. Now THAT was an interesting perspective.

Oh, yeah, and it's a good movie for SKS fans. According to the movie, a single shot from an SKS can bring down a Huey if shot in the right place. :D

Probably, if it only has one pilot and you put that round through his head.

ARVN perspective
 

The ARVN was, as MT2008 pointed out, largley inept and incompetent. However, their marines, airborne, and some other units made the US Army look bad. They could operate efectivly in the jungle, kept their weapons clean, and overal were very good. Try reading Norman Schwarzkopf's autobiography, or Battle Ready by Tom Clancy and Gen. Tony Zinni. The VC/ NVA perspective would be alternating between running from B-52 raids, hiding in tunnels systems, and sapper attacks. What would be realy interesting, though, would be a movie from the perspective of South Korean Marines. They made almost all US units look bad. They were a bunch of little karate masters running around the jungles with M16s, to the detriment of any bad guys in the area.

Kevin Dillon is no great actor, he is great as Drama in Entourage though. I can actually tolerate his accent compared to some of the other butchered southern accents seen in films.

I didn't hear much of an accent coming from Berenger. Funny you mention Ace. Dale Dye says in the commentary that Ace liked to muscle his way into scenes. He laughed his ass off, when Ace tripped over the fence.

While the shot seven times line is silly. The silliest one I can think of "You don't tell me how to run my war Elias!" The real Barnes was shot in the head and survived. He recovered in Japan for 7 months and still went back out there. Stone said he was wounded six or seven times also. But I get what you mean about part of the line being silly "The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes!"

I can't believe i didn't hear that "my war" line. That is just ridiculous.

I gotta get those two commentary tracks. They sound pretty cool. And Ace is more awesome the more i know about him. He is just such a simple kid. I love how after he says "Goddamm right he does!" to Barnes when they are interrogating the village elder, Ace looks like he regretted saying that. And what does Dale means about Ace like to muscle his way into scenes? Did he just liked to walk in scenes with no reason? Also, what does he says to Barnes before Barnes goes all anti-social on him and pushes him over the fence?

I really need to get those two Commentary tracks. It looks like Stone got an completely insane experience in Vietnam.

Also about the ARVN soldiers. An movie about ARVN draftees trying to defect could be a good comedy.

Most likely Ace wasn't suppose to say anything. Ace says Sergeant before he fell. Barnes didn't push him, he was walking behind him and tripped by accident. They left it in the film. Just like when Lt. Wolfe gave the wrong coordinates and Barnes is tearing his ass up, Wolfe puts his helmet on backwards.

The commentaries make it worth buying again. Both of them are very informative. Even Stone says it melodramatic at times.

A lot of the experience Sheen goes through, Stone went through.

So in other words, Ace waltz right into scenes where he isn't supposed to appear and instead of keeping his mouth shut he appears in front of the camera and says a bunch of ad-libed bullshit? That's beautiful.

It seems to me the Lieuty stays with his M1 backwards through the entire scene in the church. You can see how his helmet is still backwards in the scene where Barnes is tells him to "haul ass too".

I really like the scenes where they deal with the dead bodies and wounded in the church ambush. You never really see soldiers or marines in movies dealing with the dead bodies and all that.

I also like the Grunt's names. Stone choosed some very unusual names for them. Moorehouse and Fu sheng for example.

I hate how after the Village scene every one has a Flak Jacket. I can understand the platoon leader and the platoon sergeants having flak jackets, but even the privates and specialists have flak jackets.
Does Oliver Stone or Dye say anything about the bandanas? I've never seen any regular army soldiers wearing bandanas in Vietnam. Only Green Berets, SEALs and Force Recon. The only regular i have seen with an Bandana is the black guy in Stone's picture in the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPi8EQzJ2Bg

What is with the bandana's anyway? Is it supposed to mean you're bad ass or something? I see it a lot in movies and TV

In the beginning of film, when Sheen gets off the plane. The person in the body bag being carried off is Dale Dye. Dye said he didn't want to make it easy for the actors so they had to carry full gear and all that. Because if their pack was light, it would show. The packs were lightened up some, because some shit was worthless in the field.

They didn't say anything about the bandannas, I don't think. The bandanna deal may have been the actors own thing. Like the writing on their helmets. Like Sheen's says "When I die, bury me upside down so the world can kiss my ass". Lt. Wolfe "What me worry." it's from a cartoon I can't remember the name.

The names probably might have been their real names. He may have had to combine some people though.

Also while it would be an unnecessary screencap for the Platoon page. There should be one of Dale Dye "Capt. Harris" with his holstered 1911A1, since he was an actual Vietnam vet. Like Stone was, but that's just me.

I have no idea. US Special forces wore them in the Nam. I think they just liked them. I think regular forces never wore them though. The special Forces wore them because they didn't get issued helmets. A very small number of SOCOM forces still wear them. Under their helmets though.

That "What me worry" thing is from Mad Magazine.
Look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman

Check the cultural impact section. They reference Platoon in the last paragraph. I seen a few soldiers in vietnam with Alfred E. Neuman in their helmets. Seems to me the actor that played the Lieutenent knew about that.

I hate how some soldiers in the movie don't wear helmets. Elias never wears a helmet through the entire movie. I seen a lot of soldiers say that they would never go into battle withouth a helmet. Especially because in Vietnam most soldiers would customize their helmets. They would become attached to them. The helmet became a personal item and part of the uniform.

Also, i'm the only one that thinks it's hilarious that Dale Dye wanted to make a cameo as a dead body being carried away in a body bag?

I didn't even notice Elias not wearing a helmet. I guess since he didn't wear one throughout the entire film it's not as noticeable.

Dye said they need a body for the body bag. So he volunteered so it would be full weight.

I just bought a Platoon DVD. It's going to arrive at my house in about 4 or 5 days.

Which DVD did you buy? Mine is the $10 special edition listed at Amazon. After I bought it, they come out with the 2-disc collectors edition. Pissed me off. I'm too cheap to buy it again, even though there are more features it seems like.

The special edition. For 19,90 reais. Pretty nice for such a famous movie.

Here, it was through the engine. Of course, because the production was so low-budget and they didn't want to wreck a real Huey, the crash was depicted by showing the chopper parked in the middle of a paddy with fake smoke emitters, and the pilot shown lying dead nearby.

Interesting.

As for an NVA/VC film, I think I'd be interesting. It might dissuade all of the "Red Dawn" fans who think they could wage a guerrilla war against a Soviet-type invading force on American soil. From what I've read, those guys went through utter hell, and yet they still kept fighting.

That's what made the North win the war. For some reason the Victor Charlie and PAVN didn't give up. They simply won't give up. We would throw everything at them and they would just fight back or hide. I could never figure out why they didn't give up.

Because poor people make tough soldiers, especially guerrillas. And in the 1960s, almost nobody in the world was as poor as the Vietnamese peasantry. They can endure conditions that most of our soldiers can't.

Of course, the VC was not quite as good as sometimes thought. One thing that's often overlooked is that they were on the retreat by 1972.

That's true. The Charlie didn't actually scare US soldiers though. They inflicted heavy casualties but they weren't some kind of boogeyman to the US personnel. And as the war progressed, the Vietcong got more and more conventional. During the 1960s they were guerrillas but after 1972 the North made them more conventional. Till 1975 they got integrated into the Vietnam Army. That was just after the war thought.

Alright, i got the Platoon DVD yesterday. I watched it then i watched the movie with the Oliver Stone commentary on.

It seems most of the stuff Oliver says in the commentary contradicts what most civilians think about the Vietnam War and the United States after they see the movie. Hell, he called some of the American soldiers he meet there "Natural Born Warriors". He never says anything bad about the real Ssgt Barnes. The real Barnes seemed like a nice guy. Got shot in the head and survived, married a japanese women and came back to Vietnam. He never says anything bad about the real Tex while the Tex in the movie looked like someone that would side with movie Barnes in the Village scene. Stone said the real Lt. Wolfe was a nice guy. Something i found funny was how he said the "good ole boys" were good soldiers. Which i found weird because all the rednecks in the movie are assholes with confederate flags in their barracks and commited war crimes. I found all that confusing. His movie shows the platoon being full of war criminals even though Stone seems to talk more about how you can't really blame the soldiers for acting like dicks to the new guys and shooting civilians because they are tired and they felt like shit in the jungle. It's almost like he is apologizing for what the soldiers are doing in the movie.

Also, Stone didn't talk about Ace. The only thing he said is that Ace is or was a Radio writer from Texas. I don't know if he was referring to Ace in that particular scene though.

Now i'm off to watch the Dale Dye commentary.